Human Growth & Dev Flashcards
Freud’s stages are psychosexual while Erik Erikson’s stages are
a. psychometric.
b. psychodiagnostic.
c. psychopharmacological.
d. psychosocial.
Let’s begin with an easy one. Only one choice fits the bill here. The Freudian stages (oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital) emphasize sexuality. Erik Erikson’s eight stages (e.g., trust vs. mistrust or integrity vs. despair) focus on social relationships and thus are described as psychosocial. To mention the other an- swer choices is to dispose of them. Psychometric simply refers Encyclopedia of Counseling to mental testing or measurement. Psychodiagnostic pertains to the study of personality through interpretation of behavior or nonverbal cues. In counseling, per se, it also can mean that the counselor uses the aforementioned factors or tests to label the client in a diagnostic category. Psychopharmacology studies the effects that drugs have on psychological functions.
In Freudian theory instincts are emphasized. Erik Erikson is an ego psychologist. Ego psychologists
a. emphasizeidprocesses.
b. refute the concept of the superego.
c. believe in man’s powers of reasoning to control behavior.
d. are sometimes known as radical behaviorists.
To say that the id is the bad boy of Freudian theory is to put it mildly! The id is the seat of sex and aggression. It is not rational or logical, and it is void of time orientation. The id is chaotic and concerned only with the body, not with the outside world. Freud emphasized the importance of the id, while Erikson stressed ego functions. The ego is logical, rational, and utilizes the power of reasoning and control to keep impulses in check. Simply put, ego psychologists, unlike the strict Freudians, accent the ego and the power of control. The term superego in choice “b” refers to the moralistic and idealistic portion of the personality. The behav- iorists, mentioned in choice “d,” do not believe in concepts like the id, the ego, and the superego. In fact, radical behaviorists do not believe in mental constructs such as “the mind” nor do they believe in consciousness. The behaviorist generally feels that if it can’t be measured then it doesn’t exist.
The only psychoanalyst who created a developmental theory which encompasses the entire life span was
a. ErikErikson.
b. MiltonH.Erickson.
c. A. A. Brill.
d. JeanPiaget.
In Freudian theory, the final stage (i.e., the genital stage) be- gins at age 12 and is said to continue throughout one’s life span.
**Many scholars do not feel that Freud’s theory truly cov- ers the entire life span. **They find it difficult to believe that a crisis at age 12 remains the central issue until senility sets in! Erikson, also a psychoanalyst and a disciple of Freud’s, created a theory with eight stages in which each stage represents a psy- chosocial crisis or a turning point. Since the final stage does not even begin until age 60, most personality theorists believe that his theory actually covers the entire life of an individual. As for the other choices, Brill is analytic and will be discussed in the section on career theory. Milton H. Erickson, not to be confused with Erik Erikson, has a “c” in his name and is generally as- sociated with brief psychotherapy and innovative techniques in hypnosis. Piaget is the leading name in cognitive development in children.
The statement, “the ego is dependent on the id,” would most likely reflect the work of
a. ErikErikson.
b. SigmundFreud.
c. JayHaley.
d. Arnold Lazarus, William Perry, and Robert Kegan.
In Freudian theory the id is also called the pleasure principle and houses the animalistic instincts. The ego, which is known as the reality principle, is pressured by the id to succumb to pleasure or gratification regardless of consequences. Erikson, an ego psychologist, would not emphasize the role of the id, but rather the power of control or the ego. Jay Haley is known for his work in strategic and problem solving therapy, often utilizing the technique of paradox. He claims to have acquired a wealth of information by studying the work of Milton H. Erickson, who is mentioned in the previous question. Arnold Lazarus is con- sidered a pioneer in the behavior therapy movement, especially in regard to the use of systematic desensitization, a technique which helps clients cope with phobias. Today his name is as- sociated with multimodal therapy. Perry is known for his ideas related to adult cognitive development; especially college stu- dents.
Perry is known for his ideas related to adult cognitive develop- ment; especially regarding college students. For exam purposes I would commit to memory the fact that Perry stresses a concept known as dualistic thinking common to teens in which things are conceptualized as good or bad or right and wrong. Dualism has also been referred to as black and white thinking with virtu- ally no ambiguity. Noted counseling author Ed Neukrug shares the fact that students in this stage assume that a professor has “the answer.” As they enter adulthood and move into relativistic thinking the individual now has the ability to perceive that not everything is right or wrong, but an answer can exist relative to a specific situation. In essence there is more than one way to view the world. Finally, Robert Kegan is another well-known figure in the area of adult cognitive development. Kegan’s model stresses interpersonal development. Kegan’s theory is billed as a “constructive model of development, meaning that individuals construct reality throughout the lifespan.”
Jean Piaget’s theory has four stages. The correct order from stage 1 to stage 4 is
a. formal operations, concrete operations, preoperations, sensorimotor.
b. formal operations, preoperations, concrete operations, sensorimotor.
c. sensorimotor, preoperations, concrete operations, formal operations.
d. concrete operations, sensorimotor, preoperations, formal operations.
Piaget was adamant that the order of the stages remains the same for any culture, although the age of the individ- ual could vary.
It would make sense that Piaget’s first stage emphasizes the senses and the child’s motoric skills, hence the name sensorimotor stage. I can remember the last stage by reminding myself that people seem to be more formal as they get older. The final stage is of course formal operations. As for the other two stages, the stage with “pre” (i.e., preoperations) must come before the remain- ing stage which is concrete operations. Do not automatically as- sume that my memory devices will be the best ones for you. Instead, experiment with different ideas. The memory strategies presented here are simply ones which my students and I have found helpful.
Some behavioral scientists have been critical of the Swiss child psychologist Jean Piaget’s developmental research inasmuch as
a. he utilized the t test too frequently.
b. he failed to check for type 1 or alpha errors.
c. he worked primarily with minority children.
d. his findings were often derived from observing his own children.
Piaget was trained as a biologist and then worked with Alfred Binet in France. Binet created the first intelligence test. Piaget’s research methods, though very innovative, could be classified as informal ones. He sometimes utilized games and interviews. Who were his subjects? Well, often they were Lucienne, Lau- rent, and Jaqueline: his own children. Some researchers have been critical of his methods. Answer choice “a” is incorrect, as a t test is a parametric statistical test used in formal experiments to determine whether there is a significant difference between two groups. The “t” in t test should be written with a lower case t and is technically utilized to ascertain if the means of the groups are significantly different from each other. When using the t test the groups must be normally distributed. Some books will refer to the t test as the Student’s t. Choice “b” will be discussed in much greater detail in the section on research and evaluation. This choice is incorrect inasmuch as Piaget generally did not rely on statistical experiments that would be impacted by type 1 or alpha errors.
A tall skinny pitcher of water is emptied into a small squatty pitcher. A child indicates that she feels the small pitcher has less water. The child has not yet mastered
a. symbolicschema.
b. conservation.
c. androgynouspsychosocialissues.
d. trustversusmistrust.
This is a must-know principle for any major test in counseling! In Piaget’s theory the term conservation refers to the notion that a substance’s weight, mass, and volume remain the same even if it changes shape. According to Piaget, the child masters conservation and the concept of reversibility during the concrete op- erations stage (ages 7 to 11 years). Now here is a super memory device. Both conservation and the ability to count mentally (i.e., without matching something up to something else physically) both occur in the concrete operational thought stage. Fortunately, conservation, counting, and concrete operations all start with a “c.” How convenient! And you thought memorizing these principles was going to be difficult. The other answer choices are ridiculous, and that’s putting it mildly. In Piaget’s theory, symbolic schema is a cognitive structure that grows with life experience. A schema is merely a system which permits the child to test out things in the physical world. Choice “c,” androgynous, is a term which implies that humans have characteristics of both sexes. (The Greek word andros means man while the Greek word for women is gyne.) And, of course, by now you know that trust vs. mistrust is Erikson’s first psychosocial stage.
In Piagetian literature, conservation would most likely refer to
a. volumeormass.
b. defenses of the ego.
c. the sensorimotor intelligence stage.
d. a specific psychosexual stage of life.
Again, a child who has not mastered conservation does not think in a very flexible manner. A child, for example, is shown a pie cut into 2 pieces. Next, the same pie is cut into 10 pieces. If the child has not mastered conservation he or she will say that the pie that is now cut into 10 pieces is bigger than when it was cut into just 2 pieces. You can’t fool a child who has mastered conservation, however. This child will know that the pie has not changed in volume and mass. In general, the statistical research of David Elkind supports Piaget’s notions regarding conservation. Piaget and Elkind report that mass is the first and most easily under- stood concept. The mastery of weight is next, and finally the no- tion of volume can be comprehended. (A good memory device might be MV, such as in most valuable player. The “M,” or mass, will come first and the “V,” or volume, will be the final letter. The “W,” or weight, can be squeezed in-between.)
A child masters conservation in the Piagetian stage known as
a. formal operations—12 years and older.
b. concrete operations—ages 7 to 11.
c. preoperations—ages 2 to 7.
d. sensorimotor intelligence—birth to 2 years.
Remember your memory device: conservation begins with a “c” and so does concrete operations. The other three stages pro- posed by Jean Piaget do not begin with a “c.”
_______ expanded on Piaget’s conceptualization of moral development.
a. ErikErikson
b. The Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky
c. LawrenceKohlberg
d. John B. Watson
Choice “b” provides another key name. Vygotsky disagreed with Piaget’s notion that developmental stages take place naturally. Vygotsky insisted that the stages unfold due to educational intervention. Kohlberg, the correct answer, is perhaps the leading theorist in moral development.
Kohl- berg’s, Erikson’s, and Maslow’s theories are said to be epigenetic in nature. Epigenetic is a biological term borrowed from embryology. This principle states that each stage emerges from the one before it. The process follows a given order and is systematic. John B. Watson, mentioned in choice “d,” is the father of Ameri- can behaviorism and coined the term behaviorism in 1912.
According to Piaget, a child masters the concept of reversibility in the third stage, known as concrete operations or concrete operational thought. This notion suggests
a. that heavier objects are more difficult for a child to lift.
b. the child is ambidextrous.
c. the child is more cognizant of mass than weight.
d. one can undo an action, hence an object can return to its
initial shape.
Choice “d” is the definition of reversibility. The word ambidextrous, utilized in choice “b,” refers to an individual’s ability to use both hands equally well to perform tasks.
During a thunderstorm, a 6-year-old child in Piaget’s stage of preoperational thought (stage 2) says, “The rain is following me.” This is an example of
a. egocentrism.
b. conservation.
c. centration.
d. abstractthought.
Expect to see a question on the test like this one and you can’t go wrong. This is the typical or prototype question you will come across in order to ascertain whether you are familiar with the Piagetian concept of egocentrism. By egocentrism, Piaget was not really implying the child is self-centered. Instead, egocen- trism conveys the fact that the child cannot view the world from the vantage point of someone else. Choice of “d” mentions ab- stract thought, which does not occur until Piaget’s final or fourth stage known as formal operations.
Lawrence Kohlberg suggested
a. a single level of morality.
b. two levels of morality.
c. three levels of morality.
d. preoperational thought as the basis for all morality.
Kohlberg’s theory has three levels of moral development: the Preconventional, Conventional, and Postconventional level which is referred to in some texts as the Personal Integrity or Morality of Self-Accepted Principles level. Each level can be broken down further into two stages.
The Heinz story is to Kohlberg’s theory as
a. a brick is to a house.
b. Freud is to Jung.
c. the Menninger Clinic is to biofeedback.
d. a typing test is to the level of typing skill mastered.
This is your first chance to wrestle with an analogy type question. The Heinz Story is one method used by Kohlberg to assess the level and stage of moral development in an individual. The story goes like this:
A woman in Europe was dying of cancer. Only one drug (a form of radium) could save her. It was discovered by a local druggist. The druggist was charging $2,000, which was ten times his cost to make the drug. The woman’s husband, Heinz, could not raise the money and even if he borrowed from his friends, he could only come up with approximately half the sum. He asked the druggist to reduce the price or let him pay the bill later since his wife was dying but the druggist said, “No.” The husband was thus desperate and broke into the store to steal the drug. Should the husband have done that? Why?
The individual’s reason for the decision (rather than the decision itself) allowed Kohlberg to evaluate the person’s stage of moral development. In short, the reasoning utilized to solve a moral dilemma such as the Heinz story could be used to assess moral development. Kohlberg’s stages and levels are said to apply to all persons and not merely to those living in the United States. Thus, it is evident that the Heinz Story is most like choice “d,” a typing test. C. G. Jung, mentioned in choice “b,” is the father of analytic psychology. Freud is the father of psychoanalysis. And lastly, the Menninger Clinic in Kansas is a traditional psychoana- lytic foothold as well as the site of landmark work in the area of biofeedback, which is a technique utilized to help individuals learn to control bodily processes more effectively. And, oh yes, before you go out and have a good cry, let me emphasize that the story of Heinz is fictional and simply used as a research tool.
The term identity crisis comes from the work of
a. counselors who stress RS involvement issues with clients.
b. Erikson.
c. Adler.
d. Jung.
Let’s deal with choice “a” first, although it is incorrect. RS in our field means religious and spiritual. Addressing RS issues in counseling has increased in the last several years. In fact, the number of counselors who consider themselves spiritual (though not necessarily religious) is also climb- ing. RS factors are often examined by counselors who are attempting to integrate the practice of “positive psychol- ogy” into their work. Positive psychology is hot right now and I suspect you could see a question about it on your exam. The term, coined by Abraham Maslow and popu- larized by learned helplessness syndrome pioneer Martin Seligman, refers to the study of human strengths such as joy, wisdom, altruism, the ability to love, happiness, and wisdom. Keep in mind that I use the correct as well as correct answers to teach you key material. Now back to the correct answer for this question: Erikson felt that, in an at- tempt to find out who they really are, adolescents will experi- ment with various roles. Choice “c” refers to another name you should know, Alfred Adler, the founder of individual psychology, which stresses the inferiority complex.
